Insulated tank car



y 1952 c. H. FOLMSBEE INSULATED TANK CAR Clyde/1 7% fi gbee 2 SHEETSSHEET 1 BY 2 Z 2 ATTORNEY m T ll a I 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Filed March 15,1946 Patented May 6, 1952 INSULATED TANK CAR Clyde H. Folmsbee,Bloomsburg, Pa., assignor to American Car and Foundry Company, New York,N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey Application March 13, 1946, SerialNo. 654,101

11 Claims.

This invention relates in general to tank cars and in particular toinsulated tank cars.

It is necessary for tanks of railway cars to be anchored to the sills bymeans preventing longitudinal shifting, as well as by means at thebolsters holding the tank downward onto the cradle blocks. The customarymeans of hold down has been tank bands which encircle the tank and havetheir ends anchored to the ends of the bolsters. One design has beenproposed and used wherein short anchors or stabilizers extend in avertical direction from the bolster to diametrically opposite points onthe tank shell. However, in both of these cases considerable difficultyis met with when it becomes necessary to insulate the tank in order totransport certain ladings. The bare tank must'be mounted upon andanchored to the underframe, after which the insulation is applied andthe protective jacket put on with cutouts provided for the tank bandsand anchors. This requires that the jacket be applied in two or moreparts. Furthermore, with the old construction the protective coveringcan not be securely anchored to the car structure, with the result thatthe jacket or shell will shift and be ruptured or torn adjacent thebolsters, tank bands, etc. It is an object, therefore, of the presentinvention to provide an insulated tank car in which the protectivejacket can be made in one piece encircling the tank and its insulationand anchored to the underframe throughout its length.

A further object of the invention is the provision of an insulated tankhaving bands or stabilizers applied exterior of the protective jacket.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of an insulatedtank structure which can be applied to or removed from the underframe asa unit.

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent to personsskilled in the art from a study of the following description andaccompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is an elevational view ofsubstantially one-half of theimproved tank? Fig. 2 is a section takensubstantially on line 22 of Fig. 1;

Figs. 3, 4,- and 6 are enlarged sectional views taken substantially onlines 3-3, 44, 55, and 8-6 of Fig. 1;

Fig. '7 is a sectional view line 11 of Fig. 8;

Fig. 8 is an enlarged elevational view of the. tank band'mount orstabilizer, and

taken substantially on sure shell 10 to which is welded or otherwisesecured T members [2 constituting tank anchors which can be riveted orotherwise attached as at M (Figs. 1 and 3) to the center sill structure.

. These heavy tank anchors will, of course, prevent longitudinalshifting of the tank proper. The pressure shell I0 is protected againstheat loss by layers of insulation l6 completely surrounding the tankshell and this insulation is partially held in place and protectedagainst injury by means of a light, protective jacket 3. This protectivejacket is preferably made up of a plurality of sheets, eitherbutt-welded or lapwelded together to form seams 20 (Fig. 1) and each ofthese strips substantially encircles the entire insulated tank. Thelower edges of the sheets are Welded or otherwise secured as at 22 topressed angle members 24 having downturned legs 26 bolted or otherwisesecured as at 28 to either the center sill structure or the tank anchorstructure. The downturned legs or flanges 26 are, of course, notched outto straddle the crossbearer structures and are made discontinuous at thebolsterv structures as clearly shown in the figures. At the bolsterstructures the edges of the jacket shell surrounding the bolsters arereenfoi'ced by small angle or other shaped members 30.

In order to hold the ends of the tank downward uponthe cradle structureor bolster elements tank band stabilizer structures are provided. Eachof these tank band or stabilizer structures include a pair of fiatplates 40 welded as at 4| to the tank shell H1 at either inner ends andat their outer ends Welded as at 42 to a curved plate 44, preferablyconforming in curvature to the curvature of the protective jacket I8.The plates 40 and 44 together will form substantially channel shapedmembers welded to the tank structure. On the outer side of plate 44 isWelded or otherwise secured a pair of opposed angle shaped membershaving legs 46 welded to the plate 44 and merging into and joined by a"flat plate 48. These opposed angle shaped memhers when applied to theplate 44 provide spaced apart pocket members adapted to receive theT-head 50 of a tank band or stabilizer bolt 52,

the lower end of which is threaded as at 5A. The lower threaded end isadapted to be engaged by a turnbuckle element 56 which in turn isthreaded onto a short bolt 58 anchored as at 60 to the bolster structure6. From the preceding description it will be seen that the tank can bebuilt as a unit, then insulated and the protective jacket applied, afterwhich the structure could be lowered onto the underframe and securelyanchored thereto by driving the rivets I4 and tightening turnbuckles 56.Application of fastening means 28 will securely anchor the protectivejacket to the center sill structures and prevent any possiblelongitudinal shift of the jacket relative to the underframe. As shown,particularly in Fig. 8, the tank protective jacket is welded as at 62 tothe curved plate 44, this being done to prevent entrance of anymoisture. This welding can be done either before or after application ofthe shell to the underframe structure but is preferably done after theanchoring means 28 has been applied and the jacket is anchored inposition on the underframe.

As is generally customary the ends of the tank are supported at thebolster structures by means of wooden cradle blocks (not shown) andsince these shrink or crush slightly during use, it may be necessary atsome later date to tighten turnbuckles 56. In some cases rather thantrust to owners to tighten these turnbuckles, it may be desirable tosubstitute the improved turnbuckle shown in Fig, 9. In this structurethe threaded ends 54 of the T-headed bolt are threaded into a heavywasher element which is welded securely to a pipe section 12, which inturn is Welded at its lower end to a lower washer member 14 having awrench-engaging portion 76. The short bolt 58 extends upwardly throughthe washer structure 14 and is threaded orotherwise engaged with a headmember 18 to which it is also securely welded or anchored in some mannerto prevent its movement relative to bolt 58. Between head member 18 andwasher 14 is a plurality of dished washers or discs 80 made of springsteel, thus providing a resilient connection between bolts 52 and 58.This unit will be applied and the weld between either washer It andshell 12 or washer M and shell 12 being made after assembly of theparts. It will be evident thatv on the first assembly a wrench can beapplied to the portion 16 and the unit turned until the desiredcompression is obtained upon the discs 80. These discs will exert aconstant pressure tending to hold the tank onto the cradle blocks (notshown).

In case repair is necessary to either the underframe or tank structurethe same can be readily accomplished by merely removing the fasteningmeans It, 28 and the stabilizers or tank bands, after which the tankstructure may be lifted from the underframe. In case of breakage orinjury to any of the tank bands or stabilizers, it will be onlynecessary to unscrew either the turnbuckle 56 or the similar spring typeturnbuckle shown in Fig. 9, after which either the turnbuckle structure,T-head bolt 52, or short bolt 58 can be easily replaced without in anyway necessitating any changes or operations on the tank shell orprotective insulation jacket [8.

It will be apparent to persons skilled in the art from the precedingdescription that various modifications and rearrangements of parts maybe made and all such modifications and rearrangements of parts arecontemplated as will fall within the scope of the following claimsdefining my invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a railway tank car the combination of an underframe including acenter sill as the main structural element thereof, a lading retainingshell supported on the underframe adjacent the ends of the underframe,heat insulation covering said shell and supported thereby, and ametallic jacket protecting said heat insulation and anchored to thecenter sill substantially throughout its length.

2. A railway tank car having an underframe including a center sill asthe main structural element thereof, a cylindrical lading retaining tanksupported on the underframe adjacent the ends of the underframe, heatinsulation covering said tank and supported thereby, a jacket protectingsaid heat insulation, and means directly connecting said jacket to thecenter sill substantially throughout its length.

3. A railway tank car having an underframe including a center sill asthe main element thereof, a cylindrical lading retaining tank supportedon the underframe adjacent the ends of the underirame, heat insulationcovering said tank and supported thereby, a substantially cylindricaljacket protecting said heat insulation, and means directly connectingsaid jacket to the center sill substantially throughout its length, saidjacket being made up of one-piece metal sheets encircling the tank fromone side of the center sill to the other.

4. A railway tank car having an underframe including a center sill asthe main structural element thereof, a lading retaining tank shellsupported on the underframe adjacent the ends of the underframe, heatinsulation covering said tank shell and supported thereby, a jacket.protecting said heat insulation and including said center sill as apart thereof to fully protect the insulation, means fastened directly tosaid tank shell adjacent its ends at opposite sides thereof and havingparts of limited area projecting outwardly through said jacket, saidoutwardly projecting parts including pocket members, and tankstabilizing bolts connected to said underframe and engaging said pocketmembers exterior of the jacket.

5. A railway tank car having an underframe including a center sill asthe main structural element thereof, a lading retainin tank shellsupported on the underframe adjacent the ends of the underframe, heatinsulation covering said tank shell and supported thereby, a jacketprotesting said heat insulation, said jacket including said center silland being connected to the sides of said center sill, means rigidlyfastened to said tank shell adjacent its ends and at opposite sidesthereof and having parts of limited area projecting outwardly throughsaid jacket, and tank stabilizing bolts engageable with anddisengageable from said parts exterior of the jacket and connected tosaid underframe, said tank stabilizing bolts including means foradjusting the length thereof.

6. A railway tank car having an underframc including a center sill asthe main structural element thereof, a lading retaining tank anchored tothe center sill adjacent the longitudinal center thereof and supportedby the underframe adjacent the ends of the underframe, heat insulationcovering said tank, a substantially cylindrical jacket protecting saidheat insulation, said jacket being split to accommodate the center sill,

comprising angle form members extending substantially from end to end ofthe jacket.

8. A railway tank car having an underframe, a lading retaining tanksupported by the underwithout disturbing said heat insulation.

9. A railway tank car having an underframe, a

members without disturbing said heat insulation, said two-partstabilizer bolts being connected by means for modifying their length.

10. A railway tank car having an underframe, a lading retaining tanksupported by the underflanges fastened at spaced apart points on thetank on either side thereof and, said flanges being of a depthsubstantially equal to the thickness of 1 1. A railW ay tank car havingan underframe, 'ning tank supported by the under- CLYDE H. FOLMSBEE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Phillips Aug. 3, 1886 Desailly eta1 Aug. 13, 1895 Hains Dec. 23, 1902 Neilson Nov. 6, 1906 Mauran Nov.23, 1926 Thompson et al. Sept. 25, 1928 Feldmeier Apr. 22, 1930 PierceAug. 4, 1931 Sullivan Feb. 23, 1932 Folmsbee Jan. 15, 1935 Nampa Sept.28, 1937 Kuss Feb. 14, 1939

